On Saturday, December 13th, Cambridge took to the pool against hometown rival Milton High School and South Forsyth High School. The boys were looking to sweep the competition and the girls' team was looking for redemption from the loss they took to South Forsyth earlier in the season. Both teams would accomplish those goals as they hosted both teams at Dynamo Alpharetta.
Cambridge 1394.5
Milton 1014
South Forsyth 1007.5
Cambridge 678.5
Milton 612
South Forsyth 525.5
Boys' Team Scores:
Cambridge 716
South Forsyth 482
Milton 402
Boys' Team Recap
The boy's team continued their positive momentum going into the 200-freestyle by taking the top positions. Austin Daniel, with a solid state cut time of 1:51.56, took first place, followed by teammate Jake Todd in second place with a time of 1:56.94, just off the state cut qualifying time. Teammates Connor Christiansen took fifth and Noah Sannes took sixth, also contributing points. In the 200-individual medley, Ethan Nalwasky took third with a time of 2:13.85, again just missing the state cut qualifying time, followed by teammate Erek Humm in fourth, Matt Hogan in fifth and Tony Guerra in sixth. Another big win for the boys' team came with Austin Daniel's 50-freestyle, where he again took first place with a time of 23.78, a quarter of a second off the state qualifying time. Teammate Jason Hink followed in third with a new personal best time of 25.68. Jared Keim finished sixth with a time of 26.50, and Jason Yang in eighth with a time of 27.91. The 100-butterfly event was an extremely close and competitive event. Ethan Nalwasky and Milton's top competitor were matching stroke for stroke the entire event, with each taking the lead by a few inches only to have the other catch up again. The event came down to the last 10-yard, and Milton's swimmer out touched Nalwasky at the wall. With an impressive time of 59.91, Nalwasky is just off the state qualifying time. Kyle Daniel followed a couple behind in fourth place, with Connor Flemming in sixth place.
Another very competitive race was the 100-freestyle event. Jake Todd took to the pool determined to earn his state qualifying time that he missed by less than a second at Cumming Aquatic Center a couple weeks ago. With tight competition in the event, he and Milton's top entry swimmer were next to each other the majority of the race, pacing off one another and then looking to surge into the wall before the other. With just a couple yards to go, Milton touched the wall just ahead of Todd. With a time about three-quarters of a second off the state qualifying time, Todd is looking to make up the difference and get the cut at next week's Emory meet. With a second place finish and a time of 52.78, Todd was assisted by teammate Conor Wesolowski following immediately in third place and other teammate Matt Hogan just after him with a new best time in fourth place. Connor Christiansen took eighth place, still earning points for the team. In the 500-freestyle event, Sean McGinty was the only competitor from Cambridge competing in the event, and he took fourth place with an impressive swim.
The boys' 200-freestyle relay posed a close race. The A-relay (Jared Keim, Noah Sannes, Jason HInk, Conor Wesolowski) followed the Milton A-relay the entire race, and finished just behind them to take second place with a time of 1:43.25. In fourth place, the B-relay (Tony Guerra, Nick Mirchandani, Connor Fleming, Sebastian Lara) touched the wall, followed by the C-relay (Kyle Daniel, Nicky Northen, David Le, Austin Thistleton) in sixth place.
The Cambridge boys' regained some traction against the Milton boys' team in the 100-backstroke. Erek Humm took to the pool and easily surpassed the competition. Touching the wall a whole four second before the next competitor, Humm took first place with a 1:00.38, a time just off the state qualifying time. Teammate Conor Wesolowski took third, Sean McGinty took fourth, and Tony Guerra took sixth, sweeping the points. More impressive swims came in the 100-breaststroke event. Kyle Daniel, with his best time of the season, took second place with a time of 1:11.69, an incredibly solid swim and significant for the boys' team score. Teammate David Le took fifth, followed by Sebastian Lara in sixth.
To finish up the day, the boys' team took to the pool in the 400-freestyle event. After an exhausting day of quick competition, the boys' team surged into the pool swept the competition. The A-relay (Jake Todd, Erek Humm, Ethan Nalwasky, Conor Wesolowski) touched the wall a whole eleven-seconds before the next team, taking first place. The B-relay (Connor Christiansen, Noah Sannes, Jason Yang, Matt Hogan) took fourth, following by the C-relay (Jason HInk, Sean McGinty, Jared Keim, Sebastian Lara) in fifth, and the D-relay (Connor Fleming, Nick Mirchandani, David Le, Nicky Northen) in sixth.
Girls' Team Recap
The girls' team has faced some tough competition thus far this season with many unexpected victories as well as a few close second-place finishes. The team looks to not only come out strong in relays, but also come out strong as a team instead of having just a few stand-out performances. The group is certainly developing into a force to be reckoned with in the region and this meet was a great place to solidify that image.
The girls' team had a similar start as the boys. The A-medley relay (Nicole Detjen, Katie Fishman, Caley Cramer, Katie Durden) followed closely next to the top Milton relay and ended up finishing just after them in second place with a new best season time and state qualifying time of 2:02.88. The B-relay (Darby Goodyear, Sydney Swenton, Angela Ho, Alex Newcomer) trailed in fourth. In the 200-freestyle, Caley Cramer came out strong with a time of 2:10.68 and a third place overall finish. Teammate Darby Goodyear finished in fifth, followed by Ella McIlvain in sixth and Sydney Anderson in seventh. In the 200-medley relay, the competition was definitely challenging, and Katie Fishman pushed hard to drop some time and earn her fourth place finish with a time of 2:36.71. Sydney Swenton touched the wall right after in fifth, Chloe Paskins in eighth, and Angela Ho in ninth.
The 50-freestyle was tightly seeded with swimmers from all three teams closely matched with one another. Of the top seven finishes, Cambridge was able to claim four of them. Katie Durden was the first from Cambridge to touch the wall with a third place finish and a time of 27.66, immediately followed by Alex Newcomer in fourth. The next Bear to claim their finish was Ashley Dale Henslee in sixth, followed by Nicole Detjen in seventh. In the 100-butterfly, Cambridge had a tough fight against some of the best flyers in the region from South Forsyth and Milton. With such steep competition, Cambridge had to really push to get their first finish in seventh place by Angela Ho, followed by Amanda Seibert in eighth, Anna Salvadori in ninth, and Sophia LaMarca in eleventh.
Another extremely competitive event was the 100-freestyle. Again, Caley Cramer put up an impressive showing and snatched second place with a time of 59.22. Cramer looked to drop the necessary time next week to swim the state qualifying time at Emory on the 20th. Alex Newcomer was the next from Cambridge to finish in fifth, followed by Ashley Dale Henslee in seventh, and Anna Salvadori in eleventh. Chloe Paskins, an accomplished runner and open-water triathlete, took on the 500-freestyle for Cambridge and took third place overall with a time of 6:28.78. Sydney Anderson came in fourth, also earning points for Cambridge.
In the 200-freestyle relay, the girls' A-relay (Caley Cramer, Ashley Dale Henslee, Alex Newcomer, Katie Durden) had an uphill battle against the top seeded Milton relay. The team went back and forth and fought each other with each leg of the race, but unfortunately, Cambridge was out-touched at the end by less than a second. However, the second place finish and time of 1:50.03 was a new school record and new state qualifying time by over a second from their previous seed time earlier this season. The B-relay (Sydney Swenton, Nicole Detjen, Anna Salvadori, Angela Ho) came in fourth, followed immediately by the C-relay (Paula Morales, Katie Fishman, Amanda Seibert, Ashley Robinson) in fifth.
In the 100-backstroke, Cambridge has been a strong presence. With a number of girls chasing the state qualifying time, the Bears were set up to place well. Nicole Detjen was the first to touch the wall with a time of 1:07.69, which was her best time this season. Following close behind her was Katie Durden in sixth place and Isabella Empoliti in ninth. Katie Fishman has been working to fill the shoes of the strong breaststrokers behind her and she's doing a phenomenal job getting there. With her quick and shallow stroke, she trailed closely behind the top Milton swimmer the majority of the race and tried to close the gap, but couldn't quite get there. Fishman finished in second place with a time of 1:16.62. Sydney Swenton also swam a strong race to finish in fourth, followed by Sarah Moore in eighth, and Ayana Dudley in ninth.
The last event of the day is always one of the most exciting with the 400-freestyle relay. The A-relay (Chloe Paskins, Anna Salvadori, Ashley Dale Henslee, Darby Goodyear) pushed themselves to catch up to the top seeded Milton and South Forsyth relays, but couldn't quite get there. With a tough fought race, the girls had to settle for third, but they were backed up by the B-relay (Sydney Anderson, Sophia LaMarca, Sarah Moore, Ella McIlvain) in fifth, and the C-relay (Amanda Seibert, Julia Dinardo, Ayana Dudley, Paula Morales) in sixth.
Next Week's Preview
The girls' and boys' teams will face off against some of the best in the state at next week's meet at Emory University in the Madeleine Jude Brown Invitational Meet of Champions, hosted by Marist. In addition to the regular swim agenda, the divers will also compete in their first 11-dive sequence event. Maddie Chaloux looks to make her first attempt for a state qualifying performance, supported by teammates Jack Braglia and Simon Finlayson who will also seek to improve their previous scores and push their difficulty levels. Come and support your Cambridge swimmers and divers at Emory starting at 9:00 AM!
